Vernalis plc (LSE: VER, NASDAQ: VNLS) announces that it has formed a research collaboration with the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research, Inc., (NIBRI) in Cambridge, MA, USA, to investigate inhibitors of a target implicated in the progression of a range of cancers. Under the agreement Vernalis will provide elements of its ongoing oncology research to NIBRI for an initial six-month evaluation period after which NIBRI will have the right to enter a longer-term research and development collaboration.